Cozad Asset Management Inc. Decreases Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 14.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,741 shares of the company’s stock after selling 640 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its stake in Centene by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 80,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,884,000 after purchasing an additional 8,787 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Centene by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 72,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,398,000 after purchasing an additional 2,689 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 457,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,742,000 after purchasing an additional 42,968 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Centene by 166.7% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd now owns 19,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,163,000 after purchasing an additional 12,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Poinciana Advisors Group LLC purchased a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter worth approximately $426,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

Centene Stock Up 0.6 %

Centene stock opened at $59.61 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $60.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.46. The company has a market capitalization of $29.57 billion, a PE ratio of 9.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.03 and a fifty-two week high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

About Centene

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children’s health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support.